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Imposing their own prejudices : Comments
By Chris Lewis, published 14/3/2012Many Australian academics believe that only those who agree with them are unbiased.
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while there's much I could criticise academia for, I think you're here displaying rank bias yourself and making unjustified innuendos based on one anonymous academic and one high-profile academic cum journalist/public intellectual. And in the latter's case, he's been between left and right throughout his career and in my opinion, apart from his humanitarian bias, sits just as centre as all the rest. There's no political air outside the popular centre in this country.
In answer to your question, "Does Manne really have to insult the Australian electorate by challenging Labor not to "scramble to win back some of the "centre ground" of politics by imitating the populist conservative attitudes and policies of the Howard era?", I'd say yes! It may be an insult but it's also bloody true!
And while you defend the coalition's record on immigration, Manne is talking about refugees and not immigrants brought in to keep the economy humming.
The fact is that the litany of sins you assign to Manne amount to progressive ideology and Labor is the only major party with a true belief in them. The only reason the conservatives are grudgingly in the same spectrum is because of the phenomena of the centre that keeps Australia in a left/right stalemate. If Abbott was really free, to exercise his and his Party's real agenda, there'd be an abrupt shift to the right in terms of economy, morality and nationalism.
You're beginning to sound like you ought to join the party!
To condemn academia in general because of one individual who dares to speak out--and who ought to be congratulated for it!--is despicable.
I've been working in academia for several years too and you know as well as I do that like any institution there's a good mix of left and right thinking people. It's absolute nonsense to say Australia's universities are left-wing; they're quite the opposite. And those who do have a left bias are not left enough! and remain in the dreary centre.